The Adria Ace is the latest car transporter launched at the Uljanik shipyards in Pula, Croatia, for Ray Car Carriers. The 345-type vehicle design has helped reduce vehicle loading times but Ray Car Carriers will look at new designs when it decides to increase its fleet in the future.

The vessel, which is registered in the Bahamas at Nassau, is owned by Adria Maritime and managed by Stamco Ship Management Company. The shipbuilding contract for the Ace was signed and ratified in 2006, and the keel was laid in the beginning of July 2008.The ship was launched in 2008 and then trialled and delivered to Ray Car Carriers in May 2009.

Design

At 41,009t the Ace can carry 4,900 cars and trucks on 11 decks, two of which are fully adaptable, and two strengthened for the transportation of heavier trucks (the total deck area is around 40,000m²). The ship is 176m long with a beam of 31m, a depth of 14.5–30m and a draft of 8.776m. The vessel is powered by an Uljanik/MAN-B&W main engine.

The vessel can reach a maximum speed of 20kt and has a range of 33,000 nautical miles with a single bunkering. The Ace uses a rapid cascade method of car loading, which means that cars are loaded in one direction on to the higher decks. This method has cut loading times from 14 hours to ten.

Equipment

The Ace has two marine boilers provided by the Croatian supplier TPK NOVA. They include an exhaust gas smoke tube and a vertical shell type P. The two main generators are MAN Diesel SE 8L23/30H units and the emergency diesel generator is a DI9 Scania CV AB provided by Scania Industrial & Marine Engines.

The forward and aft electric manoeuvring thrusters are TT 1650 AUX CP units provided by Rolls-Royce Marine from its propulsion division in Ulsteinvik, Norway. The propeller shaft is a plain bearing unit and the propeller is a fixed pitch propeller provide by Wärstilä.